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HTC-Columbia star Mark Cavendish raced his first Tour of Flanders last Sunday aboard a carbon fibre Scott Addict. It wasn't his normal racing machine though; it was tweaked to better handle the rough cobbles and often treacherously slick conditions typical of the Belgian spring classic.

Dimensional changes are subtle, amounting to just a few millimetres of additional wheelbase for stability and a touch more tyre clearance at either end to accommodate the relatively fat 25mm Continental Pro Limited ProTection tubulars. Subbing in for the usual integrated seatmast is a softer-riding PRO Vibe conventional telescoping carbon post.

In addition, team-only one-piece dropouts with a non-replaceable derailleur hanger are fitted to the rear end and Scott's HMF carbon fibre blend is used instead of the stiffer HMX mix usually used on Cavendish's standard road bike. That means this one is heavier, but also likely more damage tolerant as well.

There's reasonable space under the crown for the bigger-than-typical 25mm-wide continental tubulars.:

Space under the crown for the bigger-than-typical 25mm-wide Continental tubulars

Several of the component choices are unique to Cavendish's Flanders bike relative to those of his teammates. For one, he continues to use the standard Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 group instead of the electronic Di2 version used by most of the HTC-Columbia team. According to the team mechanics, Cavendish and the other sprinters on the squad prefer the feel and tactile feedback of the mechanical levers and are thus willing to forego some of the convenient Di2 niceties such as the recently introduced top-mounted remote shifters.

Cavendish was also running deep-section HED carbon tubular wheels while most of the other riders ran the Ambrosio box-section aluminium rims typical of the harsher cobbled races.

Shimano's latest carbon-specific brake blocks are still in prototype form but are found here.:

Shimano's latest carbon-specific brake blocks are still in prototype form but are found here

Like most pros, cavendish prefers his stem almost as low as possible.:

Like most pros, Cavendish prefers his stem almost as low as possible

Cav's position has changed slightly from previous seasons, too. While the saddle height and bar positions are virtual matches from the end of last season, the explosive sprinter now sits ever so slightly further forward with a setback decreased from 46mm to 41mm.

In the end, Cavendish didn't officially finish his first Ronde, although he did complete the distance. He crashed and ruined his rear mech after 160km, then ran out of energy, which put him completely out of contention. But after the finish, he vowed: "I'll come back again and hopefully my winter will be a little better."

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James started as a roadie in 1990 with his high school team but switched to dirt in 1994 and has enjoyed both ever since. Anything that comes through his hands is bound to be taken apart, and those hands still sometimes smell like fork oil even though he retired from shop life in 2007. He prefers manual over automatic, fizzy over still, and the right way over the easy way.

Discipline: Mountain, road, cyclocross

Preferred Terrain: Up in the Colorado high-country where the singletrack is still single, the dirt is still brown, and the aspens are in full bloom. Also, those perfect stretches of pavement where the road snakes across the mountainside like an artist's paintbrush.